Introduction to FIFA and Its Membership

FIFA

The “Fédération Internationale de Football Association” or more commonly called by the name of FIFA is an international regulatory authority which governs the various footballs and events all over the world (LeCrom, 2015). This organization is not only concerned with regulating the various games as well as the events related to football but at the same time for the promotion of the game itself (Murray, 2018).  FIFA membership requires that interested parties have to submit their applications to the executive committee to have its delegates vote in favor or against the admission. Immediately after admission into the association a new member acquires membership rights and duties (Murray, 2018). The membership rights include: taking part in congress, coming up with congress agenda, nomination of FIFA presidency candidates, participation in FIFA competitions and development programs. The members’ obligations are as follows: to fully confirm with the FIFA statutes, decisions and regulations, participate in all the competitions in the fixtures, contributing membership subscription, ensure their members observe the set FIFA laws, respect laws of the game (LeCrom, 2015).

Market Research

A communication plan for communicating with the different stakeholders is given below-

Stakeholder Save Time On Research and Writing Hire a Pro to Write You a 100% Plagiarism-Free Paper. Get My Paper	Objective	Message Content	Delivery	Frequency
Players	To make them aware about the various safety regulations that they need to follow	Information about the various safety regulations that the players need to follow both on and off the field	Emails, social media and others	Once or twice a month
Physiotherapists	To take the help of the best practices so that the safety as well as the sound health of the players is ensured	To ensure that the players are getting the best possible guidance regarding the injuries faced by them during the games and also they are being able to maintain their health in the best possible manner	Face to face	Once in a week
Fans and followers	To cheer the teams and the players in the best possible manner so that they are being to perform in a better manner	To help the players to perform better while ensuring that they take into effective consideration the safety parameters as well	Emails, social media and others	Regularly
Coaches	To provide the players with the kind skill sets that would help them to perform as per the expectations of the fans and audience	To help the players acquire the key and relevant skills that would improve their performance	Face to face	Almost everyday
Team manager and support staff	To encourage the players to take into consideration the safety regulations to ensure the safety of the players	To ensure the safety of the players both on and off the field	Face to face	Almost everyday

Types of marketing investigations include:

1. Focus groups

This involves a group of people given a topic to talk over about a product then they give their feedback about a product and services of a given company.

1. Interviews

Interview with the fans gives noble idea of how customers enjoy a product. It also helps to know of what should be changed to improve the market(Rick,2018).

Organization audit

There is always a need to audit the environment of an organization to make marketers to focus on their business objectives and to increase return on investments. Strength, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) analysis is the best tool than can be used in assessing an organization.

Strength	· The positive image of the organization · The fan following of the organization · The connection that the fans and the followers share with the organization and also their craze for the game of football
Weakness	· Lack of safety and health planning for the players · Ineffective health and safety measures followed by the organization
Opportunity	· Use of innovative techniques to ensure the safety of the players · Use of effective strategies to improve the performance level of the players
Threat	· The various injuries that the players receive during the game which threaten their career · The emergence of other games like cricket, tennis and others

SMART Analysis

Specific

The specific objective of the plan undertaken would be to ensure that the players related to the organization are following the safety as well as the health parameters. It is often seen that the players receive various kinds of injuries which not only affects their performance but at the same time threaten their career as well. Thus, the concerned objective is of utmost importance for the players.

Measurable

The concerned organization would be able to measure to the success of the plan when the number of injuries faced by the players will be reduced in a considerable manner and at the same time the performance level of theirs will be improved.

Market Research Strategies for Sports Organizations

Attainable

The goal which the concerned organization has set out to achieve is a completely attainable one although it is likely to take extra initiative on the part of the players, coaches, support staff and others.

Relevant

The goal is a completely relevant one since the various injuries that the players receive during the games not only affect their individual performance but at the same time shorten their careers as well.

Time bound

The organization has given itself a time period of six months for the attainment of the goal under discussion here.  

The primary stakeholders or the audiences of the plan will be the various players and the fans. The different players as well as the stakeholders of the concerned organization will be contacted mainly taking the help of various kinds of social media tools and also face to face communication. This is important since the concerned organization needs to clearly convey the relevant messages to stakeholders so that the instructions are being adequately followed. The face to face method of communication will be the most important one since the coaches as well as the support will have to show the adequate safety measures that the players will have to take into consideration. Social media can also be used but their use will be limited to conveying information about the various meetings and others.

Conclusion:

Sports marketing enable the sports organizations to reach out to a larger customer base and also to earn a higher amount of revenue. However, at the same time communication plans an important role in the process and is required to convey the necessary information. In addition to these, it is seen that injuries have become an important part of the sports world and they are often very dangerous since they not only affect the performance of the players but threaten their careers as well. Thus, the organizations need to take effective measures that they are being able to mitigate the high level of injuries faced by the players.

Sports marketing refer to the branch of marketing whose aim is to support sports occasions and teams (Bee & Khale, 2006). It is also used in promoting products and services like the brand name and other physical items (Bee & Khale, 2006).  The structure of sports marketing also focuses on customer’s satisfaction through exchange programs. It is segmented into three sections. First is marketing sport teams and organizations. The second involves marketing various products that raise funds for the teams. The third objective is to encourage the public to participate in sports (Beech et al,2006).

Sports industry brings together several organizations whose objectives are to create employments to the youths, generate income through products, services advertisements and entertainments (Beech, Chadwick & Simon, 2006). Sports is a collection of many games which saw the need of creating different structures that develop policies to help govern them. For example, in football, the necessity for a single unit to supervise the association started many decades ago due to the growing number of international fixtures. The Federation International Football Association (FIFA) was founded in Paris in 1904 to oversee the football association. Its founder member countries are France, Denmark, Belgium, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Netherlands and Germany (Murray, 2018). The organization has its top leadership as president who must be a member of the associations. The first tournament organized by FIFA was in London in 1908 which become successful more than its predecessors. (Greenwell, Greenhalgh & Stover, 2013).

Reference:

Bee, C. & Khale, R. (2006). Relationship marketing in sports: A functional approach. Sport Marketing Quarterly.  15 (2), pp.102–110.

Beech, John, Chadwick & Simon (2006). The marketing of Sport. Prentice Hall and Financial Times. pp. 592.

Greenwell, T. C., Greenhalgh, G., & Stover, N. (2013). Understanding Spectator Expectations: An analysis of niche sports. International Journal of Sport Management and Marketing. 13 (3–4), pp.144. 

LeCrom, C. (2015). Exploring Fan Behavior: Developing a Scale to Measure Sport efangelism. Journal of Sport Management. V.2 (9), pp. 642–656.

1. (2018). Marketing Teacher. Retrieved August 23, 2018, from https://www.marketingteacher.com/smart-objectives/

Murray, N.  (2018). Marketing Strategies That Inspire Strategic Thinkers. Retrieved August 15, 2018, from https://www.inc.com/murray-newlands/15-marketing-strategies-that-inspire-strategic-thinkers.html

PAG. (2015). Pacific games Association- Communication strategies. Retrieved August 22, 2018, from https://websites.sportstg.com/get_file.cgi?id=3218986

Queensland, G.  (2018). Develop a marketing strategy. Retrieved August 22, 2018, from https://www.business.qld.gov.au/running-business/marketing-sales/marketing-promotion/strategy

Rick, S. (2018). Types of marketing research with examples. Retrieved August 23, 2018, from https://smallbusiness.chron.com/types-marketing-research-examples-21474.html

Sheth, Jagdish N. (December 2002). The future of relationship marketing. Journal of Services Marketing. 16 (7), pp.590–592.